“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1.1
First grade is over. It’s time to organize all the many papers that accumulated on the table, in the binder, in the bag and in many other places. We tried to decide what was going in the trash and what was to be left a little longer. One page we found in the archaeology class binder caught my attention and lit up red lights in me. The picture was of the evolution of man from the ape… I thought we’d only have to deal with worldly philosophy on creation for a few more years, but I was bitterly mistaken. I also heard from people who are involved in educating the younger ages: even in Bible lessons, they find every way to take God out of life—He did not create the world, He is not absolute, and He does not even exist. This sharpened my understanding of how important it is to introduce God in all aspects of life—in conversations with children as well as in behavior; to teach children as young as possible that God created the world; to take every opportunity to show them that God does exist and cares for us. Teach the children and repeat the idea of God’s existence and role in the universe, so that the day that they talk to them about how we come from the ape or that the Bible is just a book of stories, they can stand up and say: “But it is not true, God does exist and what is written in the Bible is true. Do you want to know how I know that?”
A Challenge
The school year has begun. Every single day, children and youth will face temptations and difficulties. We want to give them tools to deal with these difficulties, and what is the best weapon if not the Word of God?! Here are some verses listed in cute photos that you can reproduce on Bristol paper, perforate and put on a key chain, or just reproduce and give out to the children so that they might memorize them. You can talk to them about the meanings of the verses and how to repeat them when they have to make decisions, such as whether to copy the lessons from a friend because they did not do them, and so on. Talk about specific situations in which the verses can help the children.
Psalm 34:14
1 Corinthians 15:33
Matthew 14:27
Genesis 1:1